


Unwaveringly Yours

by Calminaiel



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Keyleth is mad, Set during ep 107, Spoilers to 107, the raven queen doesn't know what to do with all this emotion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 04:43:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17842688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calminaiel/pseuds/Calminaiel
Summary: “I mean, we’ve always had the problem of you having one too many ladies in your life, right? It’s hard to compete with a god.”Keyleth is hurting after her conversation before bed with Vax. A higher power seeks to reassure her.





	Unwaveringly Yours

**Author's Note:**

> I will almost certainly be adding smut to this.  
> So the current rating is really just to avoid rickrolling the "E" filterers. 
> 
> Unbeta'd.

Keyleth shivered slightly against Vax’s cool skin. Their room in Scanlan’s mansion was perfect of course, if a bit lavish, but there was no way to counter the chill that came with their embrace these days. It had only been a few days. Barely enough time to process everything…. And now she knew. He might not have said it outright, but she knew that he wouldn’t stay. Even if given the chance. Just as she was beginning to slip into sleep, Keyleth felt a soft touch, feather-light against her cheek.

_Warm._

Her eyes snapped open as she readied a thunderwave. The spell died on her lips though as she stared wide-eyed into the porcelain mask before her. Her body was locked in place, whether by some magic or by fear- she couldn’t tell. The soft warm hand traced her cheek again and she barely suppressed a shudder.

“Keyleth.” The voice filled her mind and she turned quickly to see if Vax was awake. The moment she turned, however, she suddenly found herself in darkness. No bed beneath her, no Vax beside her. All around her stretched an endless web of silken threads. She looked back at the masked figure, no longer kneeling by her bed, but standing impossibly large amidst the dark oblivion. “You don’t need to be afraid of me, Keyleth of the Air Ashari. Daughter of Vilya and Korrin. Voice of the Tempest.”

Keyleth laughed, the sound a little hysterical even to her own ears, “Is that supposed to impress me?” She was still sitting, and the texture beneath her felt like her bed, but looking down she could see nothing but endless darkness. She contemplated getting to her feet, but some primal part of her brain kept her glued to the spot, unwilling to let her risk falling into that nothingness. “Is this where he goes? When he talks to you?”

“My champion has visited me here, yes.”

“His name is Vax’ildan.” Keyleth snapped, surprising herself, but she could feel the boiling anger that she’d been suppressing for months. “His name is Vax and he has a sister and he loves to cuddle with Trinket and he likes the feeling of the grass under his feet. He plays pranks on Grog and braids Vex’s hair and he sleeps with me!” Keyleth was nearly out of breath as she rose to her feet, “And you’re taking him away from all of that! You’re taking him away from me!”

Despite the illusion, she stood on solid ground as she glared at the goddess before her. Compared to Pelor and Sarenrae, The Raven Queen was nothing. A puppeteer playing with her little strings in the dark. “I used to think you were so fucking scary. But we’ve met gods now. You’re just another fucking god and Percy is right. We don’t have to believe in your fucking destiny.”

In a split-second, barely the blink of an eye, the masked woman was standing before her, mere inches from her face. Despite the adrenaline and the rush of fury she’d felt a moment before, Keyleth can’t help but shrink a bit as the dark eyes behind the mask take her in.

“Your anger is misplaced, young Keyleth.” The soft voice surrounded her, unaffected by her rage. “You are his and he is yours.”

“That’s not the point. That’s not the fucking point.” Unwanted tears began to stream down her face and Keyleth wiped them away angrily. “You’re going to take him from me!”

“He loves you very much, Keyleth.” Now a normal human size, The Matron of Ravens’ hand reached out, “And he was not wrong. You are loved by many.”

“But he’ll be gone.” Keyleth was now weeping. No longer any pretense of strength or certainty, tears flowing as she kept her eyes from meeting those of the woman in front of her.

“He won’t be gone. He will be here. He will be able to see you and follow you. He will be proud of your accomplishments and will feel pain at your heartbreak.”  
“But he won’t be with me.”

The warm hand slowly took hers, comforting as she squeezed it gently. “The pain of loss is a part of life. You know this already.” Keyleth raised her eyes, blinking through the tears as she met The Raven Queen’s gaze. “But the loss you feel cannot be helped. He is no longer afraid. Your Vax’ildan has been given a new life, he has already been given more time. He needed to protect you, to fight at your side to ensure this pretender-god would not destroy the world he leaves to you.”

“Can’t you let him stay?”

“He is not really there, love.” She can hear the sadness in The Raven Queen’s voice. “He is there for a short time only. Then he must return to me. He chose this. He knew the terms when he accepted this.”

“I don’t want to forget him.”

There was no warning before Keyleth felt herself pulled close to the figure. She stiffened, surprised, but the body holding her wasn’t aggressive, or strange, or even unfamiliar. Wrapped in this unexpected warm embrace, Keyleth felt as though she were once again in her mother’s arms.

“Who were you?” Her words are muffled by the dark cloak wrapped around The Raven Queen’s body as she murmurs into the fabric, clutching tightly to the goddess.

Moments stretched by with no answer, but then Keyleth felt a light brush against her shoulder. She startled at the tickling feeling and pulled back. The dark hair that had brushed her shoulder framed the unmasked face of The Queen. A pale, beautiful woman stood before her. Small and sad looking. Keyleth looked into the red eyes before her and before she knew what she was doing she leaned forward and planted a soft, chaste kiss against the woman’s lips.

“I’m-” Keyleth’s eyes went wide as she pulled back, a look of terror in her eyes. “I’m so sorry!” She felt a blush rising to her cheeks, “I don’t know why I did that!”

“I-” The unfamiliar woman faltered, no longer god-like in her mannerisms as she looked at Keyleth. “It’s alright.”   
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Keyleth was now wishing the ground really would drop out from under her and swallow her into the void.

“It has been a long time.” The voice was heartbreaking. She said it matter-of-factly, but Keyleth could not help but hear the loneliness in her words. _That is what it’s going to be like for Vax…_ The realization hit her like a mace to the chest.

“You’ve been alone here for all those years…” She whispered the words as she looked at the mortal that once was.

“I have had my champions.”

A cold shiver ran down Keyleth’s spine. “Did you-” She felt herself hyperventilating, “Is that-”

The hand, smaller this time, reached out and took hers. It no longer felt like she was talking to a goddess. It was instead like talking to Vex, or Pike, or Zahra. “I have not, and I will not. Not unless he is the one who seeks it.”

“He’ll be alone for so long.”   
“He will not be alone. I will be with him.”

Keyleth chuckled. “I’m not sure that helps.”

“His heart is true to you, my dear.” She smiled as she spoke and Keyleth was taken aback by the strangeness of the expression.

“I joke about you being ‘the other woman’, but it seems like one day you might be.” Keyleth smiled half-heartedly. Suddenly aware that the idea didn’t infuriate her the way she expected it to. “I don’t want him to be unhappy. I don’t want him to be lonely. I’m glad he will have you by his side.”

The Raven Queen cocked her head, “You would give him your blessing to seek comfort in me?”

Keyleth laughed in spite of herself, “If that’s what he wants.” She smiled, a hint of sadness lingering in her eyes, “You’re right. His heart belongs to me. I know it does.”

“And yours to him.”

Keyleth smiled. “Didn’t stop me from kissing you.”

“It did not. That was… unexpected.”  

“Yep. Yes it was. We don’t have to tell Vax about that.”

“I can keep my secrets.” Passing her hand in front of her face, The Raven Queen’s mask returned, her hair once more hidden beneath her veil and feathered mantle. “Even from my champion.”  

“Thank you.” Keyleth said softly. “This doesn’t mean I’m not angry anymore.” There was a pause as silence hung in the air between them. “I think I’ll always be angry at you.”

“I understand.”

“I don’t accept it.” She says softly. “I can’t.”

“Luckily what is fated is not contingent on your acceptance.”

“Lucky me.”

The Raven Queen reached out and rested her hands firmly on Keyleth’s shoulders. “You are very lucky.”

Keyleth opened her mouth to respond, but the words died in her throat as the hands roughly shoved her backwards. She screamed, feeling the ground vanish beneath her feet as she plummeted into the darkness.

“Keyleth!” Vax’s hand gripped her arm tightly as he leaned over her, his hair cascading around his bare shoulders. He held a dagger in his other hand as he rapidly blinked away the sleep lingering in his eyes.

Keyleth gasped, sitting up and heavily gulping in air as she looked around their room in Scanlan’s mansion. “She’s here!” She cried, disoriented as she remembered the feeling of falling into the void.

“Who?” Vax’s face was wracked with concern and Keyleth felt an instant wave of gratitude. She pulled him into a hug, catching his surprised yelp in a kiss as she held him to her.

“Nothing. Just a dream.”

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said, I hope to add on to this one!  
> Let me know what you'd like to see. 
> 
> As always, Kudos and comments are my lifeblood!


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